


Ignorance is Bliss

by DeathByStorm



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 4 and 1, Asexual!Shiro, Because he said so when I was writing this, Black paladin Shiro, I laugh in the face of timelines., Lance is shook by Shiro, M/M, Pining, cute bonding moments, red paladin lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 02:10:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15233076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathByStorm/pseuds/DeathByStorm
Summary: Or four times Lance pined after Shiro, and the one time Shiro noticed and did something about it.





	Ignorance is Bliss

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the lovely [Eilera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eilera/pseuds/Eilera) for betaing this. All remaining mistakes are my own.

Rescue

“Jeez, why don’t you buy me dinner first?” Lance sniped. "What was your name again? Rovtok?"

He was shackled to a pipe on a ratty old tin can of a ship with a sprained ankle to match his bruised ego. It was unbelievable that he’d been captured by this bozo. Then again, perhaps that was why he was captured. His mother always did love to remind him that pride goeth before a fall, and well, look at him now. He yanked on the chains again making a loud rattling sound. If only he had his bayard. Just his luck that his captor had been smart enough to take it and place it far out of his reach.

“Quiet, paladin,” Rovtok snapped. “Be grateful that my benefactor wants you alive and unspoiled.”

Lance wrinkled his nose. “What am I, a cabbage?”

“That’s it, I’m gagging you.” Rovtok set the ship to autopilot and grabbed a soiled rag from the workstation near where Lance was sitting.

Lance leaned away. “You are not putting that in my mouth. I’ll break out!”

“Hold still you little brat!” He thrust it at Lance’s face and Lance jerked away, hitting his head on the pipe.

“Ow!” he whimpered

“I can’t believe that you are one of the feared paladins of Voltron!”

“Untie me and say that to my face,” Lance snapped, and he scooted down to avoid the Galra’s attempt.

“I think not.”

There was a bang and a tremor went through the whole ship. The Galra abandoned his attempts to force the rag into Lance’s mouth and turned towards the sound.

“If you're wondering what that was, it's my ride."

“Like hell I’m letting go of the greatest prize I’ve ever managed to capture,” Rovtok snarled. He drew his sword from his belt. “Even if it is yappy and annoying.”

Lance puckered his lips and blew him a kiss.

There was another bang and Lance’s wrists were wrenched as the momentum threw him to the side. The Galra was thrown into the back of the pilot’s seat. He staggered to his feet just as Shiro strode in like some sort of avenging angel. There was a fierce look on his face that Lance had never seen outside of the battlefield. He slumped over in relief. No matter how much he'd enjoyed antagonizing his captor, he couldn’t help but think that this was the happiest he’d been to see Shiro in quite a while.

Shiro glanced around the cabin and visibly relaxed when he set eyes on him. Then he was all business.

“You may have been the Champion, Black Paladin,” Rovtok said. “But you’ve never faced me.”

Shiro didn’t deign to reply. The eyes that Lance usually thought of as warm and caring were two dark pinpricks in stark contrast to the sclera of Shiro’s eyes. He activated his Galra hand and threw himself at Rovtok.

Rovtok bared his teeth and swung his sword. Shiro dodged it and then grabbed the blade with his Galra hand. He locked eyes with Rovtok and snapped the blade like a twig. The Galra didn’t even have time to react before Shiro seized him by the throat and slammed him hard against the wall. Rovtok went limp and slumped to the ground when Shiro let go of him. Lance felt a wave of heat roll through his body and seriously? He was turned on by this? He crossed his legs and tried to think unsexy thoughts.

Shiro crouched down in front of Lance. He reached out and gently brushed Lance's hair away from his face. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. Thanks for the rescue.”

“Can you stand?”

Lance shook his head. “My ankle.”

There was a flash of light and the cuffs around Lance’s ankles fell to the floor. Shiro gently felt around the ankle as best he could with the armour in the way. Lance hissed as he hit a particularly sore spot.

Shiro leaned back on his haunches. “I can’t tell if it’s broken, but there’s a lot of swelling. Here, let me just-“

And with that, Lance found himself hauled to his feet as if he weighed nothing more than a feather. He swayed and Shiro reached out to catch him.

“Sorry, I guess I can’t help falling for you,” Lance said before his brain caught up with his mouth. He felt himself go red and if both his feet were working properly, he would have kicked himself. Shiro snorted and Lance leaned into him. He looked up and saw a small smile tugging at the corner of Shiro’s lips. Okay, perhaps today hadn’t been a total loss then.

 

Strategizing

Lance walked into the lounge only to have his heart stutter at the sight in front of him.

Shiro was reclining on the couch wearing the cutest pair of glasses that he’d ever seen. He had a tablet in one hand and his chin propped up with the other. Lance let out a noise that could have come from a much-abused squeaky toy.

Shiro looked up. “Hey Lance.”

“Hey Shiro. I didn’t know you wore glasses.”

“Hmm? Oh, Coran gave them to me to help with the headaches I get from reading this thing,” Shiro waved the tablet in the air.

“What're you doing on that thing anyway?”

“Planning out positions for the next offensive,” Shiro said distractedly. “Actually, you can help me.”

And who would Lance be really if he passed up an opportunity to do not only something meaningful for the team, but also get to curl up next to the very person he was crushing on? Lance walked around the edge of the couch and sat beside Shiro. “What’re you having trouble with?”

Shiro hummed and then zoomed out the map. “These are the current troop locations. If I have Matt’s rebels here, this one flank against General Lug’s fleet is exposed. But if I move them here, then we leave our left side exposed to General Rosso.”

Lance skimmed over what was on screen and then reached out and scrolled through the map again. “What about this gas giant?”

“What about it?"

“When you were gone,” Lance said. “We made the mistake of chasing Lotor onto a planet that had an explosive atmosphere. We got out of it, but our lasers weren’t of any use and we weren’t able to communicate with each other. This planet has a lot of dense, explosive gases. We could have Matt’s team lure this part of the Galra fleet there.

“But what about communications?” Shiro said.

“Well, we could ask Pidge to whip something up for that team,” Lance said. “We could also ask Lotor, but Pidge knows the lions better than him.”

“You know, that might just work,” Shiro said. “Good thinking, Lance.”

And Lance felt himself blush as his heartrate skyrocketed. “Th-thanks, Shiro!”

“Hey guys, I made popsicles,” Hunk said. He stopped and looked back and forth between the two of them. “Am I … interrupting something?”

“N-no,” Lance said.

“Popsicles?” And Lance hadn’t seen Shiro this excited for something in quite a while. There was a hopeful note in Shiro's tone that made Lance's heart skip a beat. And why was that so cute? Jeez, he had it bad.

Hunk gestured over his masterpieces which were set out in an elaborate array on the tray. "I only have two flavours so far. Cherry and, uh, not cherry. But I swear, it's not as gross as it sounds."

"Pfft, your food is always amazing, Hunk."

"Thanks, Lance," Hunk said. "And I know you'll want the non-cherry flavour, so here you go."

He picked one off seemingly at random and handed it to Lance who looked at it doubtfully.

"Yeah, I didn't know what to call it. It's super weird, but good! You'll see," Hunk said. "Shiro?"

"Oh, um, cherry, please," Shiro said.

Hunk smiled and handed it to him. "Well, I'm off to spread my creation to the rest of the castle. Later guys!"

"Alright, so what do you think about these troop locations in the Centauri quadrant?" Shiro licked up the side of his popsicle and then stuck the entire thing in his mouth for good measure. Lance followed his movements with the eyes of a starving man. This was deliberate. There was no other explanation.

Lance rolled over on his back and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Shiro, you're killing me!"

"Hmm?" Shiro looked up from the pad still sucking on the popsicle. It was already staining his lips red. He pulled it out with an obscene ‘pop.’ “I thought I went rather easy on you in training today.”

“No, not that,” Lance mumbled. Was Shiro really that oblivious?!. "Never mind. It was the Centauri quadrant you were looking at?"

Shiro looked at him for a moment and then visibly decided to let Lance's strange comments pass. "Yes. I can't help but feel like there's a better way to organize them."

 

Washing Black

"There you go. Does that feel better?" Shiro's voice echoed off the walls. He sounded carefree in a way that Lance was not used to hearing. He stopped to listen.

The lion rumbled back and Shiro laughed softly. Lance couldn't help himself and he stepped into the hangar.

There was a peaceful expression on Shiro's face that Lance rarely had the privilege of seeing. Shiro was dripping water all over the floor, though his white poof of hair was still sticking out instead of plastered to his head. The vest that he usually wore had been neatly folded and set by the wall. Lance thanked whatever higher powers existed for this because it meant that Shiro was just standing there in his sopping wet long-sleeved shirt.

The sparkling water droplets in the air created a halo around Shiro. Lance was so caught up in this vision of masculine beauty, that when his feet lost traction on the floor, he was only confused as he slipped and fell flat on his back into a puddle.

"Ow," Lance groaned. He sat up and rubbed his behind.

The sound of water stopped and then Shiro was standing over him like an angel that had descended down from the heavens. Ever see a blue screen of death? That is what Lance's brain was doing and it was all Shiro's fault.

"Lance, are you alright?"

"I slipped in a puddle," Lance mumbled. "M'fine."

To Shiro's credit, he didn't laugh. He just held out his hand and hauled Lance to his feet. Lance felt the cold weight of his jacket hanging off of him as he stood. It was absolutely soaked, and he sighed before shucking it off. It was useless like this.

"Were you looking for me?"

Lance shook his head. "I couldn't sleep."

Shiro's eyes widened in understanding and he gave Lance a soft smile. "I could use the company if you're up to it. Would you like to help me wash Black?"

Lance stuck his hands in his pockets and gave Shiro his most nonchalant expression. "Sure, not like I have anything else better to do."

Shiro gave him a knowing look before gesturing over to where a large bucket lay. "There are sponges and rags over there. Could you please wash between Black's toes for me?"

"No problem.”.

He walked over to the wall and left his jacket and hoodie in a crumpled heap beside Shiro's vest. He grabbed the soapy bucket and settled between one of Black's front paws.

"Yes, you are a good kitty. You love being clean and sexy, yes you do," Lance cooed as he scrubbed some dirt out of a part of Black's claw that was pretty difficult to reach.

"Do you talk to Red like that too?”

Lance flushed horribly. "Shiro."

He waited until Shiro looked up before he lobbed his sponge at him. Shiro was too close to him to dodge and Lance watched as the sponge landed splat in the middle of Shiro's chest. There was dead silence as it fell to the ground with a sad 'plop.'

"Lance," Shiro said slowly. "You do remember that I have the hose, right?"

"Maybe I didn't think that -" Lance began before Shiro pulled the trigger and a deluge of water soaked Lance from head to toe. Lance spluttered and pushed his bangs out of his face.

Shiro let out an undignified snort. Lance shot him a mock betrayed look and that was all Shiro needed to start chuckling. He looked at Lance's face again and made this unattractive snorting noise before bursting out into full body laughter. Lance couldn't hold the look on his face any longer as giddiness welled up inside him too and he found himself laughing along with Shiro. He didn't regret what had just happened. He may have been drenched to the bone, but it was worth it to put a smile on Shiro's face.

Shiro eventually stopped and wiped at his eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thank you, Lance.”

Lance smiled and shot him finger-guns. "Anything for you, Shiro.”

Shiro's eyes softened. He placed his hand on Lance's shoulder. "I mean it," he said. "It gets lonely sometimes."

Lance's heart seized, and he realized that there was no one he would rather spend his time with. He looked up into Shiro's warm, flushed face and smiled helplessly back.

"I mean it too, Shiro," he said. "Anytime."

 

Free Time

“It’s time you paladins had a break,” Coran said.

It was early morning ship time, and everyone was standing on the bridge having completed one of the emergency drills that Coran had designed.

"I don't know if now is the right time for a break," Shiro said.

"Nonsense!" Coran said. "We haven't had a break in ages and a rested mind is a sharp mind! Not to mention the Teludav needs some adjusting and there's the recent damage to the shields from the last battle and the goo machine is on the fritz again."  
  
He looked frazzled at the very thought.

"Coran," Allura said. "When was the last time you had a break?"

Coran stroked his mustache and hummed. "Why, I do believe that was before I went into the sleep chamber."

"Then it's decided," Allura said. "We're all getting a break."

"But-"

"What was it you were saying a few minutes ago, Coran?" Allura said. "A rested mind is a sharp mind?"

All the fight went out of Coran and he slumped. "Yes, princess."

"Ooh can we stop at a beach planet?"

"Well, there's no such thing as a beach planet," Coran said. "The environments are too variable."

"Aw man," Lance slumped. The old late-night Star Trek reruns had lied to him. Then again, they had lied about the existence of the federation as well, so maybe he shouldn't take advice from a decades old sci-fi show.

"But there is a planet near here that is known for its oceans.”

Lance perked up and looked hopefully at his teammates.

"The beach sounds like fun," Hunk mused. Pidge shrugged like she didn't care either way.

"Then it's decided," Shiro said.

*

The sun beat down on Lance's shoulders as he carefully selected the best spot to set up. Above the shoreline was a line of blue trees laden with purple fruit. White sand stretched off into the horizon circling a calm blue sea. It was a picturesque place even if it had nothing on Varadero beach.

"Lance?"

Lance jumped and looked up. He hadn't even heard Shiro coming.

Shiro smiled sheepishly and gestured to himself with a bottle of castle manufactured sunscreen in one hand. "Do you mind helping me with my back?"

The beach towel fell from Lance's nerveless fingers. "Y-yeah of course, Shiro."

He gestured towards the towel in front of him with a flourish. "Just take a seat and let Lancey Lance work his magic."

Shiro snorted and sat on the towel facing away from him. Lance reached out with trembling hands and took the bottle offered to him. He squeezed a generous dollop onto his fingers and began spreading the sunscreen on the miles and miles of scarred skin on Shiro’s back. Despite the damage, the unmarked patches of skin were soft to the touch. Shiro shivered as Lance took the opportunity to massage a knot out in his back.

"Do they hurt?" Lance said quietly.

"They feel tight sometimes, but whatever the Galra used to heal them also stop them from restricting my movement," Shiro said.

"You should ask Coran for some ointment," Lance said. "It would ease the tension."

Shiro hummed in response.

By this time Lance had finished rubbing in the sunscreen and his hands lingered on Shiro's back. He swiped his thumb across the nearest scar and enjoyed the easy silence between them. The urge to soothe those old hurts with tender touches was so strong that he was almost frightened by the intensity of his feelings. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, praying that no one noticed how red his face must be.

Pidge snickered from the umbrella that she was lying underneath a few feet away. Her eyes darted between Shiro and Lance. “Had too much sun, Lance? Maybe you should get Shiro to help you with that.”

“Pfft, I'm Cuban, Pidge. For me, there’s no such thing as too much sun.”

She snorted disbelievingly. And there went Lance's hopes and dreams along with his dignity.

“Sure, whatever you say,” she said. She returned her attention to the tablet on her knees. Lance scowled. Pidge managed to do it in a smug manner too, the little gremlin.

“She's right, you know,” Shiro said. He turned as soon as Lance removed his hands from his back. There was a flush on his cheeks and Lance marvelled at the fact that Shiro could burn so quickly. “I could, uh, maybe return the favour if you like? Coran did say that the ozone layer on this planet was thinner than ours on Earth.”

“Did you put sunscreen on your face yet?” Lance blurted. “You’re looking pretty red.”

The red on Shiro’s cheeks deepened. “I may have forgotten,” he said sheepishly.

“First though, let me return the favour,” Shiro said. He placed a hand on top of Lance’s shoulder and pushed down gently to keep him from rising. The warmth of his fingers sank straight into Lance's bones.

Lance didn’t trust himself to reply, so he nodded and leaned forward to give Shiro better access. He jumped a little as the cold sunscreen touched his back. It was immediately soothed by the heat of Shiro’s hands and Lance hung his flushed face between his knees. It seemed that Shiro was taking extra time with this just to torment him and every swipe of Shiro’s hands just added to the heat pooling in his groin.

He buried his toes in the sand and just prayed his swim trunks were loose enough.

“Done,” Shiro said. He clapped his hand on Lance’s shoulder and stood up.

Lance just let out a soft groan.

Shiro paused and looked back at Lance. “Is everything okay?”

“Just fine, Shiro,” He cracked a shadow of his usual grin. He turned away and missed the thoughtful look that crossed Shiro’s face.

He waited until he'd calmed down a bit before he got up and walked over to where Hunk was and let his forehead thud against his friend's shoulder. Hunk, being the amazing angel that he was, automatically pulled him in for a hug.

“Lance, you okay buddy?”

Lance turned away and shrank into himself. “This is starting to hurt.”

“You know, if you told him, you might feel better.”

Lance laughed, but it was hollow. “I really don’t think I’m his type. He deserves someone better.”

And he didn't want to burden Shiro with his feelings. The man had enough to worry about and the last thing he needed was Lance dumping that in his lap in the middle of a war.

Hunk let out a frustrated sound. He grabbed Lance by his shoulders and gently turned him around to face him. “Lance, you are worth so much more than you think. Stop putting yourself down all the time.”

“But-“

“Besides, don’t you think Shiro should be the one to decide that?”

“I guess,” Lance mumbled. Mentally, he pouted. He'd come over to sulk, not for good advice.

"There you go then. Besides, I think Shiro likes you more than you think."

Lance looked back over to where Shiro was walking along the shoreline in the distance. His back was strong and proud and Lance never noticed the amount of tension Shiro held in his shoulders until he saw them relaxed.

"Well, a guy can dream.”

 

+1 Confession

"Lance, do you have a minute?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

Shiro was leaning against the doorway with his arms folded with a determined look in his eyes. Lance's hands trembled and the pot he'd been working with slipped out of his hands. It clattered to the table spilling powder all over the place. Damn. Now he'd have to start mixing that face mask all over again. He flushed a little and hastily scooped most of it back up as Shiro made his way over to him.

"I think we could use a little bonding time with just the two of us."

Lance fumbled and dropped the pot again. This time the pot hit the floor and shattered. "Quiznak! I mean yes, Shiro of course I'm free. When do you want to go?"

"Now would be best if you're free," Shiro said. "What I have in mind is time sensitive."

Lance blinked. "Sure, Shiro. Let me just put these away."

"Oh here, let me give you a hand," Shiro gathered most of the pots in his hands and they headed back to Lance's room to drop them off.

"Thanks, Shiro."

"So, I'll see you in a few minutes then?" Shiro scratched the back of his neck. His cheeks were a little flushed and Lance had to admit, it was a cute look on him.

Lance gave him a helpless smile. He couldn't help it when he was around Shiro. "Yeah. I'll meet you in the hangar.”

*

The planet loomed before them, more Earth-like than anything that Lance had seen before in his time in space. It made a lump rise in his throat that was hard to swallow around. He gripped the back of Shiro's chair as the man brought them in for a landing.

"We're here."

"Where's here though?"

"You'll see. Come on."

Shiro grabbed a basket from behind his seat and gestured for him to lead the way. Lance stepped out of Black's mouth and let out a gasp. It was night on the part of the planet that they'd landed on and in the heavens above millions of stars hung on invisible strings. The air was heavy with the sweet smell of water and plant life. It was dark otherwise. So dark, that Lance couldn't even see his hand when he waved it in front of his face.

A light flickered into existence behind him. Shiro's face was lit up with the small yellow lamp he held in his free hand and it cast their immediate surroundings into a soft relief. They were standing on the edge of the shore of a lake with water so still, it was like glass. Lance resisted the urge to go stick his hand in the water.

"I brought dinner too," Shiro said. "There's going to be a meteor shower here tonight. Coran said it was quite spectacular."

He held out the lamp and Lance took it from him on autopilot. Shiro knelt and busied himself with spreading the blanket that was balanced on top of the picnic basket across the ground. Lance's mind whirled. He quickly glanced around his surroundings, to Shiro, and then to the food that he was now laying out on the blanket. It was almost like, no, it couldn't be. Shiro didn’t like him like that, did he? Did he know? Lance swallowed hard. Shiro wasn't the type to be cruel, so he must-

"You can sit down, Lance."

Shiro smiled and it was a hesitant one that Lance wasn't used to seeing on his face.

"Shiro, is this a date?" Lance's heart began to thud heavily in his chest.

And for once, Lance got the explicit pleasure of seeing calm, composed Shiro stumble over his words. "Y-yes. If you want it to be. I mean, I only just found out that you were interested."

"You like me?! You? Me? How?" Lance said even as a lightness began to fill his chest. "Wait, you didn't notice I was interested before now?"

Shiro nodded. "I do. A lot. And you were pretty subtle."

Lance choked. "Subtle? Are you kidding me?"

Shiro gave him a confused look and rubbed his back to soothe him. "No, I'm not."

“Shiro, I go red every time you were in the same room! Pidge and Hunk both teased me constantly!”

Shiro tilted his head back and looked at the sky. They were close enough that Lance could feel Shiro's body heat. It made the restlessness that he usually felt settle in his chest.

“Why are you like this?” Lance groaned.

“About that. There’s something that you need to know about me first. I should have brought this up earlier with you. It may change the way you think about me.”

“Shiro,” Lance put his hand on his arm and gently squeezed it. “Whatever it is, it won’t change my feelings for you.”

Shiro didn’t look like he believed him. He took a couple of deep breaths as if to gather his courage.

“I’m asexual.”

“Oh.”

Shiro smiled at him though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I understand it isn't the easiest trait to live with. I won't blame you if it's a deal breaker.”

Lance took a deep breath and shifted a little closer to him.

“Shiro, I've liked you since the Garrison. Yeah, I'm attracted to you, but you being asexual doesn’t change how I feel for you and the last thing I would want to do is make you feel uncomfortable," Lance said. "I want you for you and if anything, you deserve someone better than me."

"That's not true," Shiro said. "I'm the one that gets to decide if you're worth it. And believe me Lance, you are."

Lance flushed and man, he was getting sick of going red around Shiro all of the time. "Yeah? Well, you too."

Shiro held out his hand between them. Lance took it and wrapped his fingers around the warm rough skin. He curled up against Shiro's warmth and leaned his head against his shoulder.

"Is this okay?"

"More than," Shiro said.

They stayed there and watched as the stars began to rain down from the heavens.

  


  


  


  


**Author's Note:**

> Come yell about Voltron with me on [Tumblr](https://www.deathbystorm.tumblr.com)


End file.
